the Cost of a Day Pass for a Rock Climbing Gym

The price was for a day's climbing (per person) without a gym membership ($10) and equipment rental ($15). The equipment rented included shoes, climbing harness, helmet, chalk ball and bag, and a rope for each pair of people in the group (total 4 people in our group).

Monthly memberships were available ($50/month), as was personal or group instruction ($unknown) and equipment sales and rental ($varies depending on the quality of the gear).

It's a nice gym. They floors of the climbing room are well-padded, but not so cushy they can't be walked on. And there is a variety of routs from 5.2 (easy) to 5.12c (quite challenging) marked with different colored hand holds. The ceilings seemed to be 40 foot up, but that's probably imagination. They also have bouldering areas with short walls (<8' tall) surrounded by thick, plush padding to allow them to be climbed without harnesses. Pretty sweet.

Everything was clean, the equipment was well-maintained, and the instructors even gave us a well thought out lesson on how to tie knots, how to hook into the safety gear on the wall, how to belay correctly, and climb correctly (hands support you, feet move you, and keep your torso out a few inches from the wall). All unnecessary with our group, but we enjoyed the refresher since half of us hadn't climbed in over a year.

All told a fun few hours spent on a weekend.

Given the opportunity, do go climbing. It's a lot of fun and can be made easy or challenging simply by changing the route you choose to climb. Even better is if you over-reach your talent, there are plenty of holds you can use to get past a sticking point. And if you get tired, you can always have your partner let you down easy.

As for picking a gym, a competent staff that offers professional instruction is an absolute must for beginning climbers. And the gym doesn't have to have the newest or fanciest gear, but all their rental stuff should be in good nick. You should also see well-thought-out routes, perhaps some that mimic famous routs like El Cap (or maybe parts of one, since a gym's limited to ceiling height and a rock wall isn't).

Two last things: just like a rock wall can crumble, hand holds can give way, but both are extremely unlikely events. Also, don't look down. If you do, feelings of vertigo await.